


Repair

by Zimochka



Category: Astral Chain (Video Game)
Genre: Alll the ptsd, Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/F, F/M, Fix-It, Gen, Legion's are adorable murder Hoovers, M/M, Miyako is Protag's name, Multi, Neuron is Badass, Post-Canon Fix-It, Protective Siblings, Spoilers, Team as Family, The Author Regrets Nothing, This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things, Time Travel, Time Travel Fix-It, What is a measure of a nonhuman
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-09
Updated: 2019-11-07
Packaged: 2020-11-28 08:47:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,946
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20963759
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zimochka/pseuds/Zimochka
Summary: - fix or mend (a thing suffering from damage or a fault). Put right (a damaged relationship or unwelcome situation).What happens when someone with a guilt complex finds out their computer can time-travel?Or Better yet, what happens when the people around them notice?Actions always have consequences, and you must deal with them before you can heal.





	1. [File 13]

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [【File〗](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20543543) by [Zell_Hatoule](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zell_Hatoule/pseuds/Zell_Hatoule). 
**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Permission - consent; authorization; an official document giving authorization.

The idea was beyond insane. There’s no guarantee that she really could make things better, but Miyako was a **Howard,** and Howard’s did not let things like _ ‘it’s impossible’,_ get in their way. She owed it to them to try, famed stubbornness not letting her settle for letting things lie. For Akira, Dad, Neuron, the Hermits, and everyone who lost their lives to the storm she’d helped -- _ no _ \-- had caused. _ No one had_ deserved what happened, and maybe that was too much responsibility to take? It didn’t change that Miyako was the only one who knew there was a chance to make it better.  
  
Not that she hasn’t been trying to do so already. Miyako has been helping Olive with the cleanup cases, closing any new gates, and general clean up left after Yoseph and Jena's attacks…but it wasn't the same. It didn’t change the damage that had been done, the people who’d died, or the fact that recovery was going to be a _ long road._ People would get better eventually, sure, but if_ she could fix it,_ then who needed to get better when there was nothing wrong? Plus maybe she could fix her biggest and most _selfishly_ profound regret.  
  
  
  
_ Akira._  
  
  
  
He was and wasn't the same anymore, and she couldn’t tell him why.  
  
  
  
Okay, that wasn’t exactly true.  
  
  
  
She could tell him, what that he’d died at the ARI? He was a _clone?_ Oh, you’ve just got one of them we’re not sure how many clones Yoseph made of you. This is one of them, but we got your memories from your and my legions? I still love you anyway. Also, I killed you. Family hug?  
  
He was still Akira in all the major ways; Miyako’s stupid, sweet little brother who couldn’t lie to save his life. Who took care of the cats like they might as well be his children. Made the most adorably disgusted face at paperwork, but would get Alicia to show him the fastest way to finish it. He would train with his big sister on the weekends, and they would still get together on Tuesdays to cook Dad’s famous lasagna, which was only surpassed by his spaghetti while watching movies after. Dad had always made them promise to come and help him eat it all since he made too much. Akira always told him that ‘ _ leftovers are in fact a thing Dad. _’ But both of them still showed up and helped. Always.

But he flinches. Her baby brother flinches at his_ big sister._ It was only when he saw the Axe with her, thankfully, but it still hurts. Akira did remember at least some of what happened at the ARI. Wasn’t that a thing to turn her stomach? But she would fix this, he would never have to remember it because it would never happen. _ Never._

Still, she wasn’t sure exactly what to do to fix it all, or where to even start. Miyako had to fix this, it didn’t matter if Dad never told them who the older sibling was. _ Actions speak louder,_ and Dad was always saying she should look out for Akira.  
  
So, abusing the time travel function on her work PC, and taking all the notes she could on how to maybe make things better seemed like the best place to start. Go big or go home right? What more could she do? Miyako can fix it, _ so she must._

But what has become very clear from all her preliminary planning was that...this was not a one-person job even if she had five very well equipped legions. Miyako hated to admit it, but technology, in general, _ was not her_ strong suit, and to bring Yoseph down, she would need proof. Therefore, she needed to ask someone else...someone she could trust with A.) try and find a way to bring them back with her, and B.) help flesh out her plans, C.) have the technology skills she lacked, and D.) wouldn’t try to talk her out of it. Good thing she knew just the person, or rather, drone for the job.  
  
  
_ Even if he was prone to panic._  
  


* * *

  
“Hal? No, I told you before, haven't heard anything from him even after we all got our wanted notices rescinded.” Olive looked up from her tablet frowning at Miyako who was fighting not to pace, with the way she was tapping one of her heels in agitation.

“Please Olive! You said you fed him information for a while when you were still with Neuron...that must mean you had some way of getting in contact with him.” Miyako pleaded softly with the pink-haired woman in the deserted break room the tapping of her leg being the only noise. “I’ve tried to look for his drone when I do cases for you in his old hide-out area, but I haven’t seen him. I liked talking talk to him, and wanted to thank him for his help with the whole ARI thing.” She crossed her arms as she glanced more in Olive’s general direction, rather than actually at the other woman, “We wouldn’t have gotten as far, or been able to save Brenda as easily without him.” she fibbed and tried to meet Olive’s curious gaze, before having to look away, leg still bouncing before she finally forced herself to hold still. Maybe Akira wasn’t the only bad liar in the family after all. Plus Miyako felt so, _ so bad,_ for playing the Brenda card. Just because the women were friends, didn’t mean she should abuse their worry for each other. 

Olive looked sympathetic but was still frowning her eyebrows furrowed in thought, “Is it _ that _ important to you?” Nodding Miyako played with the loose part of her work jacket though her arms were still crossed loosely. This had to work, she didn’t really want to risk being arrested again. _ But she would if it came to that. _

“Look, I don’t have a way of getting in contact with him. But!” she held up a finger before the younger woman could protest, “I can get your official clearance into zone 09 to look around for him. It’ll have to be on your own time _ after _cases, but I’ll get the paperwork filed so you can take your legions too, to help you find him.” Miyako’s face slowly started to brighten and she was nodding, so fast her glasses slid down her nose when she stopped, eyes widened in happiness even before Olive tacked on the last condition. “And if I need to call you back for other things while you’re out looking, you can’t slack off.” the pink hair woman said sternly, but her eyes were crinkled from a slight smile.

Nodding, the brunette grinned brightly at the pink-haired woman before giving a brief, but tight hug. “ThankyouThankyouThankyou!” she cheered before letting go in embarrassment and looking away rubbing the back of her head sheepishly, “I-I mean thank you, Commander Espinosa!” Miyako quickly corrected herself as she offered a salute.

“That’s hardly official yet!” Olive complained at her but the smile was still there. “I should make you do patrols in Harmony Square again as punishment.” 

Miyako just grinned she said offering a second, more sarcastic salute, “Yes Ma'am, Commander Ma’am.” 

“Go, before I _do _ make you do patrols for the rest of the month.” Olive teased the younger woman, before waving her off with the stylus from her tablet. Never one to take a proper break, even as a dispatcher, much less as the new Commander of Neuron.

That had gone better than Miyako could have _hoped_! Now to just figure out how she was going to take all the notebooks she’d written things down in. It was better to keep all the information on paper, safe and in her sight, unable to be edited, and not on her strange computer that could time travel. She didn’t trust it not to eat some of her files even if everything _seemed _to always be there when she went back. Plus it wasn’t like she could ask someone to check for her, ‘Oh by the way my computer can time travel and I need to make sure it has all the files I need at all times, can you help?’   
  
While it would be easier to get Hal the files that way, it was also meant that her notes would be on the Neuron computer servers and she doubted Hal was the only one who would be able to get at the files on her computer. Which was not good.  
  
  
Not that she didn’t trust the others in Neuron! She _did_.  
  
  
It was just. Well.  
  
  
  
What if the others got worried and tried to do some sort of _intervention_?  
  
  
Miyako shuddered internally at the thought, but knew it was something they all seemed to be considering. It was really _sweet, _that they cared enough to worry about her, but she couldn’t, no wouldn’t change this course. Plus, it was more than a _little _annoying if she was honest. It was, admittedly a little funny at first, but her glasses were _for show_, _she _**_wasn’t _**_actually blind_.   
  
  
Olive _might _have thought she was being smooth, with the lighter mission load. Which might have worked, if Miyako had gotten to pick them, but she didn’t get to. So, it was being forced to do cases that made her want to scream. Keeping her mind busy with cases helped keep the nightmares at bay. So, brainless cases? _No_.  
  
Jin, Akira, and sometimes Alicia, would follow her around on the cases too. Jin was the _most _blatant about it, literally just walking a meter behind her. He’d talk with her on days when she’d answer back, and others they’d just walk in silence, it was still annoying, but nice? Akira would just when he had an excuse, also follow her around HQ like she was going to drop dead or something? Her baby brother was cute, but she’d taken down Jena and Yoseph, walking around HQ wasn’t going to kill her. Alicia seemed to be there the least, maybe she just did it when the others had to do their actual work? Miyako wasn’t really sure the point when half the time she’d see the other woman just strolling a few meters behind her.  
  
Brenda was a little awkward around her, but also annoyed her the least outside of trying to wrangle Miyako into regular check-ups. Akira had teamed up with the blue-haired woman once to get his sister to go see the Doctor. That had been deeply annoying even if it had overall been beneficial. She’d _never _admit it to the two of them though.  
  
  
Honestly, she was so lucky to have _so many_ who cared about her. She can’t let it distract her though. They might _not _understand but that was okay, their understanding wasn’t what she wanted. Was that selfish? No, no, no. It was just caring for their happiness. Forgiveness was easier than permission in this case, not high handed. ‘_A good police officer explores _**_all _**_their options, _**_not _**_just the ones that are comfortable kiddo._’ Shaking her head, she shoved that thought away violently. _Shut up, Dad!_ **You **don’t get to remind me of that, you’re dead, so you don’t get a say anymore!  
  
Ducking into an alleyway Miyako slid to the ground trying to regulate her breathing, a mix of a relieved smile while her eyebrows raised in disbelief as the Axe Legion summoned itself from her Legatus and took her hand gently. “Oh, fuck off.” She said squeezing it back while the Legion settled on the wall next to her, it’s sword positioned to block the busy sidewalk from her view. “_Taiiiichoouu_ you know as well as I, that no one else can see you. So, that’s **kind**, _but a little silly._” Taichou just shook its head before sending her, ‘_You can’t see them anymore, so not silly_.’ was all it told her. “Thanks, Chou. Is this what it feels like to be Akira?” She mumbled sleepily toward it, laughing at the put out feeling she got from him.  
  
Taichou, Chou for short, or her Axe Legion was such a softie. It would do this often, summoning itself to comfort her, just holding her hand like her Dad used to. Gentle, barely there at first, till he knew you wanted the touch then it would be solid and grounding. Honestly, it freaked her out at first how like her Father it was, but then after she’d fused with her Sword, it made sense. The Captain hadn’t really died in the Astral Plane, but she wasn’t sure how much you could call being sharing a body with the Legion alive. Still, she was glad to know he was still with her even if it’s not quite how he’d want to be. Taichou couldn’t manage very complex conversations but was good at sending its feelings to her. Chou also liked to summon itself to just sit with her, offering comfort by holding her hand while standing sentinel. It was so overprotective, more than once she’d overestimated herself a little only to notice Chou pulling her back toward the helicopter while keeping a fierce guard over her, only letting up once she was back safe.   
  
Once she’d calmed down, Taichou vanished only to be replaced rather swiftly by the Arrow, Hawkeye, who helped her up, before starting to pull her toward the main part of Harmony square. _When _has she gotten here? She’d meant to go _home_. Hawkeye just kept pulling her along and before she knew it they were at a Larger Burger, “I really don’t need to eat more,” she mumbled under her breath at it, “Hawkeye, you know people look at me strangely for how much I eat, I can eat when I get home.” It just shoved her in the doors before vanishing, only reappearing if she tried to leave without having ordered something. After someone finally asked if something was wrong, Miyako gave up and went to order something mumbling about interfering friends.  
  
After getting her order she looked around before settling in one of the booths in the back, she wished Hawkeye had just let her go home. Still, she supposed, at least she wouldn’t need to dishes. Honestly, Akira’s former Arrow reminded her so much of him some days. Making sure she’d eat, fussing over her between missions, and just being _completely _enamored with all the cats. Hawkeye, the silly thing, wanted to be the one to feed them when she visited the sanctuary. For all Brenda might insist most of Akira’s memories had gone into the clone, Miyako was pretty sure he was somehow haunting his first Arrow Legion too. It didn’t speak like Taichou, but then it didn’t need to. When they’d been small they’d made up a language, Akira and her, it drove their Dad mad. Since it was filled with nudges, winks, eyebrow movements, and head tilts. Just silly little kids could get away with under their teacher's noses.  
  
Finally full for now, Miyako was able to leave but wasn’t left alone for long. “_You too?_” Was all she could ask, as the Arm, or Li, just gave her a gentle push forward. She groaned exasperated but resigned to her escort home. As they walked Li kept a careful watch over her, it was almost _unnervingly _like Jin, but that makes sense right? Jin had been the best, _was _still the best with his Legion. There was _something _to being a master of one rather than a jack-of-all-trades like her, after all. So, Jin must have spent a lot of time with the Legion, which was evident with the fact it knew Japanese and Chinese.  
  
Plus it adored books, most of the pictures she got from it looked like children’s picture books. It fit so well with what she knows about Jin, being kind enough to teach, to love his Legion enough to teach it like that. She might have to ask Jin for lessons of her own to be frank, her Japanese was rather strong, but her Chinese was rather poor. Blushing she shook her head, Jin was so busy with paperwork, she didn’t want to bother him with something so silly. Li made a questioning grumbling noise, “No, It’s fine I’m just being silly.” The Arm just shook its head at her before suddenly vanishing to be replaced with her Sword.  
  
“If Li thinks I'll listen to you it’s not been paying attention.” The Sword, Fray, just shrugged at her. At least she was wearing her ear comm today, she thought before laughing at Fray’s amused agreement as it settled floating beside her. “At least I can get home without having to brave the subway, I don’t feel calm enough to try it.” She mumbled having crossed her arms again, trying to not feel so self-conscious about it. Fray just rested a hand on her shoulder, “I know _you _won’t judge me, but could you imagine if I told the others? I’m fine, honestly.” The amount of disbelief she got from the Legion was rather much, she was fine, has to be. Don’t let them see the cracks, or admit they’re there and you’ll be fine. Miyako would be fine. Fray shook its head at her but knew that she wasn’t going to change her mind. They’d become the closest after it's saved her more than a few times, either from falling or bringing her back after she’d gotten hurt from the fight with Jena. You _died _idiot, _not hurt, _**_dead_**_._ Fray mumbled in the back of her mind softly. It also spoke the most, but needed the least words usually, as in tune as they are. _In tune or not you still refuse to listen to me, I told you, talk to Jin, not Hal. Jin wouldn’t have needed someone else to be able to talk to him for one._ She knew that. There was even a reason she’d ignored Fray’s advice, but she wasn’t ready to admit that to either herself or the Legion.  
  
Feeling it’s exasperation at her, Miyako wasn’t surprised when the Beast Legion, Stitch was the next one to replace her Sword, was it bully the Legionis day? Stitch just shuffled closer to her so she could rest her hand on its head, while she climbed up the stairs toward her apartment, finally _almost _home. She might not get along well with Alicia, which didn’t sting at all no, sir. But her Legion was easy enough to please. Give it cat food, and petting it was more than enough to please the Legion.  
  
Unlike other people. Maybe Miyako deserves it? It wasn’t exactly a secret to anyone but her dad Alicia's had a thing for him for a while. It didn’t explain the coldness that’d been there from the start. It hurts but she could live with it, plus once she’d made sure the Captain never died Alicia wouldn’t blame her anymore. Stitch pulled her attention away from her thoughts briefly to remind her to unlock the door, as she’d just ended up resting her forehead on the door vs actually trying to open it, “Thanks Stitch, I bet once we settle in on the sofa I can give you a tummy rub?”  
  
  
Lost in her thoughts as she was, Miyako didn’t see her mysterious neighbor, the one her landlady _swore _would be someone the younger woman would want to know, widen his eyes as he watches the younger woman enter her apartment, the Beast Legion still summoned at her side. He knew she’d asked Olive to be able to take her Legatus home with her, but he’d thought it was more as, so I can respond to calls faster. Not this...I’m lonely and need friends. This...was worrying. “What would your namesake say if he could see his daughter now, huh? At least I can tell Olive it’s not so she can go on covert missions after dark.” The glasses-wearing man hummed as he carefully watered Max Jr. before moving down his row of plants trying not to worry too much about his neighbor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Incase it wasn't clear
> 
> Legion's and their names  
Taichou/chou for short - Axe  
Hawkeye - Arrow  
Li- Arm  
Fray- Sword  
Stitch- beast
> 
> Anyone who gets the Fray ref receives a gold star sticker
> 
> And as a forewarning, most of the pairings will be eventually, the one ones together at the start are Alan/Marie


	2. [File 14]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Revise - reconsider and amend (something), especially in the light of further evidence or to reflect a changed situation.

Listening to the comings and goings of others still working, Miyako was carefully writing away in her notebook while sitting in the locker room not quite ready to leave yet. She’d been looking the past few days for Hal, but no luck so far. Not that she’d really expected it, but it would be nice to not have to spend ages looking for the drone. Either way, today was a good day for a break, work had been mostly finishing all her paperwork! So, she was sick of her desk but not ready to head to her lonely apartment. More to the point, _ while _ Olive let her take the Legatus more often than not, but since today was an easy day the techs had wandered off with her Legatus for maintenance. Taichou had reminded her it would only be for a day if that before they’d wandered too far with the Legatus. Miyako was just trying not to panic too_ much,_ wishing she could just_ take it and go home._  
  
But she wasn’t the only Legionis any more, so she would end up in jail. _ Which had not been fun._ Even if it had only been a few days it was still. It was just too quiet, with the lack of people every had left to help with finding Jena and her head being silent from the lack of Legions. Akira had visited her at the start, but when Olive had called she’d warned Miyako that Yoseph had sent her brother out to try and track Jena. It had to be her brother since Jena was popping in and out of the Astral Plane. Even her food had been just a big stack of protein bars, hastily tossed in with her the warning to make it last. That had been the last she saw of anyone before being allowed to join the chase three days later. She’d barely kept from running to the command room to hug Olive, who’d done her best to at least talk to Miyako once a day. So being alone was still hard, but it was a little easier to stand if she spent some time alone but not alone before leaving for the day.  
  
Amber eyes drifted closed as she forced herself to shove those thoughts away, letting herself be lulled by the white noise of everyone in the building, she could just let herself have a small nap right? Shift change could wake her up in a few hours. But as Miyako was just about to doze off she heard Lappy suddenly talk?  
  
“Hey, partner! Whatcha working on?”   
  
Miyako shrieked, suddenly startled awake and dropped her notebook, startled teal eyes going wide as she looked up at Marie. One of her hands flew up to her chest, as she tried to catch her breath and calm down, all the while trying not to let the panic get the better of her while she tried to calm. Thankfully with her Legatus a floor below her, all that changed was her hair and eyes. Miyako couldn’t forcibly summon her legions from that distance, so the color change was rather brief as she quickly calmed recognizing her surroundings once she was properly awake.  
  
Having backed away at the flash of color, Marie held her hands up doing her best to look as unthreatening as possible, and unable to keep her eyebrows from scrunching together in concern, “Miyako, it’s me, Marie. You’re at Neuron, in the locker room. Is there anything I can do for you?”  
  
“Ah, I’d just been drifting off, sorry for the scare Marie.” Miyako sighed, “Was just taking a break from my pondering, seems that it turned into a nap. You’re really sneaky when you want to be,” the corners of her lips twitched a little as she tried to smile. “Did you need something, Marie?” Her eyes were glued to the floor to keep from glancing around nervously, as she started to gather up the notebook and pen she’d been using off the floor.  
  
“Well, you’ve just been preoccupied thinking awfully hard about something,” Maire said tilting her head toward the notebook, which Miyako pulled closer as if to hide it, “so I was going to see if I could help! _ Sometimes,_ we all get a little lost in our heads, and need someone to come and fish us out.” The green-eyed woman smiled as she settled on the end of the bench in the middle of the room.  
  
“It’s nothing, really Marie, thanks for the offer,” Miyako said pushing up her glasses as she went to stand, moving to leave.  
  
“H-hey now, what about Lappy? He’s good at listening too you know. And sometimes it’s easier to talk to him than a person, person.” She said eyeing the costume the other was still sitting next to.  
  
  
While Marie, wasn’t someone she would normally think of asking for help, it couldn’t hurt? “...Wait, Marie? Or um, is it Lappy now?” Miyako asked, adjusting her grip on the notebook briefly, so she could push her glasses up.  
  
The officer gave her a grin and thumbs up. “Still Marie! Whatcha need?”  
  
“What, what would you have done to stop Yoseph, from.” she bit her lip looking to the side. “Y’know.”  
  
“Huh, well that is a toughie, isn't it?” Marie asked as she glanced at the notebook Miyako still held in a death grip to her chest. A few things seemed to start clicking for her, and she smiles warmly as she continues, “Well I’m surprised the Council didn’t, really _seem_ to, protest his spending more.” She said tapping her chin in thought, “Sure, Jena was a big problem, and the Astral Plane, well you know, _ has been _ a problem for _ decades _ now.” The green-eyed woman paused, eyeing her in concern, as she carefully went on, “But the whole RAVEN thing? That had to have been a hard sell. Never mind the hot water he was in before with four of the five Legions lost.” Marie offered, to the stunned Miyako.  
  
  
“Wait, _ council _ ?”  
  
  
“Mhn hmm, the Seekers!”  
  
  
“Seekers...of _ what _ ?”  
  
  
“Well, I think he would have had to deal with Wealth, Glory, and Power? There are more, Like Knowledge, Justice, Wellness, and Entertainment. Plus, I can’t remember how many sub-councils within each seeker's influence.” 

She blinked at Marie looking floored, before asking, "Huh, I guess he must have spun it to him still being useful, so they would keep him around?"

"Seems so! Too bad Jena decided to try killing Yoseph rather than just one-upping him. Imagine if her homunculi had been on our side." 

"You seem,” Miyako said, eyes narrowing, “To have thought about this an awful lot, Marie." 

Marie just laughed waving her off, "Alan really likes movies! He's got a huge collection of cheesy action ones, and lets me borrow some if we don't have time to meet up at one of our places." 

"Marie! I told you not to tell anyone…" Alan whined as he poked his head into the locker room, “Sorry, heard the scream but didn’t want to just run in, best not to shock an already scared person.”

Miyako scowled at the remark before her jaw almost dropped, as Marie moved forward on the bench to give Alan room to sit behind her. Since when had they been so friendly? 

"Anyway, why are we talking about _ my _supposed movie collection?" He asked resting his chin on his girlfriend's shoulder. 

"Miyako asked me! She wanted to know how I would have dealt with our former Commander. Which is a topic we've actually talked about recently given a lot of," she giggled looking back at him, "Someone’s, who won't be named, cheesy movies feature a lot of time travel. So one night, we figured why not?" The green-eyed woman said with a shrug but was careful not to jostle Alan’s chin.

Alan was looking rather red in the face, but still completely smitten. Had she fallen into a parallel universe as well? Wasn’t a time-traveling computer enough?

"I maintain, it was a good thought exercise," Alan said trying and failing to look serious. 

"Of course," Marie said placatingly, taking one of his hands, "Besides, for all of how bad things went, it could have been much worse. It's mostly thanks to Olive our future is as bright as it is."

Miyako, who had managed to shake herself free from the shock, frowned as her eyebrows scrunched together."I knew Olive has been more or less the new Commander of Neuron, so she's been keeping everything running smoothly. There's, even more, she's done for us?" Not that she doubted Olive, but was that part of why she never seemed to rest?

Alan nodded, his lips making a thin tight line, even as he threaded his fingers between Marie's. "You weren't here, so I'm not surprised you don't know. But they really didn't want to keep Neuron as it was. Wanted to make us more mainstream, rather than keep it spec ops." He sighed, shoulders slumping, "Could you imagine how badly it would go if just anyone was given a Legion? At least most of the current Neuron crew has been around Legions. So, they know _ not to push,_ but I mean." He glanced over at Miyako, "you've met some of the regular police. How do you think they would act if suddenly given a Legatus?"

She thought of the two officers from the scene, on her very first day with Neuron. That would be a trainwreck. If they couldn't handle having regular cases, being taken because of a lack of expertise? She didn’t want to think about what they would say to be told they're not good enough with their Legion. She winces.

"Yeah, _ bad _doesn't even begin to cover it." He sighed frowning a bit, "But Olive has us covered. She was able to get an agreement about people being tested, then put on a waiting list. So we would get more people eventually, which makes the higher-ups happy, but doesn’t cause problems for us."

The two women nodded in agreement. Having someone so good at handling people was a blessing for Neuron. 

"So, time travel?" Alan asked going back to the original topic. 

"Y-yeah I thought it was just, I know it won't make things _ better _just thinking on how to fix things." Miyako said hugging her notebook, like it was a life preserver, "But, it gives me something to occupy my time. When I can't sleep." she offered, "Since Olive's been giving me the stink eye if I try to even breathe near the backlog cases."

  
Marie looked back over at the other woman, "Well, like I said the council are the people who would be able to get rid of him. And if he's gone, then Jena would maybe be willing to talk? You spoke to her the most, Miyako." 

The amber-eyed woman nodded, "I suppose…" If you could call being told you_ don’t understand over_ and over, speaking with?

Alan, who had been running his free hand through Marie's hair looked over at her. "You'd also need people, plural. It rarely works out well, if there's just one person. They get detained, can't be somewhere, or worse, they act so strangely to the people who know them. Well, they have to spend valuable time stopping and explaining what's going on." He said, counting each off with one of his fingers of his free hand.

"But, doesn’t that make it harder too? Having to coordinate so many people.” She knew that one person wouldn’t be able to do it, clearly, but a whole team of people? When she was just having trouble talking to Hal?  
  
“I mean, depends on someone's skill set.” Alan offered. “You’re not going to do well if you try to fit a circle into a square, it might go after some pressing, but it wasn’t a good fit for a reason.”  
  
“Plus, a burden shared is a burden halved!” Marie offered. “You and Akira as a team? Get more done together than alone right? And Hal has helped you too didn’t he? And I know Jin, Alicia, and the Captain were all near unstoppable when they worked together.”  
  
Miyako nodded softly. “And sometimes you get so lost in your own head, you need someone to fish you out, right?” she asked echoing Marie’s words.  
  
“Right!” She grinned brightly at the other woman, “It _ never _ hurts to ask for help.”  
  
“Thank you, both of you.” She offered, “I need to head out, and eat something before I head home.” Miyako said but didn’t look exactly excited to head home, the Legatus cradle noticeably absent from her back. “See you two later.”  


Marie waved enthusiastically, while Alan was much more sedated, and once she left Alan turned back to Marie. “She’s not okay yet, is she?”  
  
“Ooh, not even close. I caught her sleeping, or near about. Why would she sleep here? We have barracks after all. Plus you didn't see it, but when I woke her up by accident? Her eyes and hair flashed like she’d summoned_ her legion. _ But they’re _ all _down in tech getting checked over today.” Marie sighed, her posture drooping a bit, “I feel a bit bad for Olive and the others. It’s hard to help someone who doesn’t want it but needs it. They’ll have the whole Neuron family to back them up though! So I’m positive it’ll be fine.” The ‘eventually’ was kept silent.  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I made up some more seekers, I heard they're supposed to just be an Eva ref but they're gonna be important later, like way later so here's you a cheat sheet.
> 
> Wealth -> resources(Food/building supplies for repairs)  
Glory -> banking aka money managing  
Power -> military/police 
> 
> Knowledge -> schools/Libraries/media  
Justice -> laws/judicial system  
Wellness -> medical/utilities(water/power/greenery)  
Entertainment -> making people happy
> 
> Also /bangs pots and pans I DON'T CARE IF YOSEPH JUST GRABBED MARIE TO MAKE NEURON LOOK LEGIT/SOMEONE TO DO THE PAPERWORK AND CLEAN WE LOVE AND SUPPORT MARIE WENTZ IN THIS FIC and make Alan's appreciation of her something that's not about boobs 
> 
> 1v1 me in the pit over that if you don't like it


	3. [File 15]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Disclosure - the action of making new or secret information known. A fact, especially a secret, that is made known.

“You know this all sounds...more than a little crazy right?” was the only comment Hal offered her as he looked the box over.  
  


_ “I know!” _ She snapped eyes darting briefly away, as she took a quick breath as she looked back to face him her lips still pressed together in displeasure. The younger woman made herself reconsidered her harsh tone, after all, she knew how crazy this all was. Miyako shouldn’t be mad at him when she wouldn’t have believed it if it wasn’t her life. So, taking a deeper breath this time, she slowly counted back from twenty as she unfolded herself, relaxing into the chair. Her arms only loosely crossed in front of her, as she uncrossed her legs at the knee and settled for crossing them at the ankle instead. Messing this up wasn’t something she can afford.“I’ve got to do something, Hal. _ Please,_ I’m not asking you to say yes right away, you can look over my notes...Talk to Kyle or something.” Miyako breathed deeply again as she resisted the urge to bounce her leg just from the anxiety of it all. She had to be patient, this wasn’t a one-woman job. “I just know I can’t do this alone, and other than Akira you’re the only one I would trust to help me with this.” The brunette said starting strong but petering off weakly towards the end her gaze drifting to the floor. 

Closing her eyes briefly to recenter herself she looked back up at him, “I _ know _ it’s insane." Could he hear her desperation? The countless sleepless nights having woken from nightmares of falling, dead before she hit the ground, only wake up three days later and learn she had almost killed_ her brother? _ See the blood dripping from her hands when she had? Even if he had pleaded for her to do that, she was guilty all the same. "I know.” 

Miyako repeated softly as she gripped the sleeves of her coat, knuckles white, trying to fight down the rush of nerves. She can’t break, _ not here,_ not now. Besides if she couldn’t even get through telling Hal about this how is she going to relive some of it? Sensing her distress, Taichou appeared taking her hand gently. Miyako seemed to wilt finally relaxing into the chair her focus shifting toward the legion her eyes finally going somewhere that wasn’t Hal or the box. Hal for his part only made a slight squeak at the appearance of the Legion, but that drew Taichou’s glaze and it glared rather pointedly at Hal before glancing up to the rafters and glaring even harder. “Tai...Axe Legion. You don’t have to stay, I’m safe here. Promise.” It shook its head before glaring back Hal, and just planted his sword in front of her. “Taichou! I am fine. This is embarrassing. I’m sorry Hal, really.” Miyako huffed and rolled her eyes and the Legion shaking its head at her.  
  
  
“No, no It’s ah fine. If it wants to stay?” He offered trying not to look too surprised, though the drone had dipped rather low when it’s operator had been startled away from the controls.   


“Still, if we can make a difference.” She said firmly continuing her previous train of thought but not quite so frantically. Clearly, the Legion being out was comforting as her posture was much looser, “Not let Yoseph do as he pleases, try to talk to Jena, save the Hermits. Save Akira, save the Captain.” Miyako’s lips pressed together as she squeezed the Axe Legions hand. “I just want to fix_ it. _ Before it was broken. Before so many people had to lose their lives to our_ mistakes Hal. _ ” The amber-eyed woman’s lips were turned down in her displeasure. “**Look**, I swear I wouldn’t have come to bother you like this if I didn't think it was possible to fix. And I know if Kyle was able to, he’d take this chance no matter what. But I didn’t go to him,” For many many reasons but she was more than a little irritated when Chou told her about the unexpected guest.  
  
“I just want to make things right,” she repeated with an irritated sigh. “Everyone got tricked by Yoseph, and Jena wasn’t a good person. But if we can learn from her? She still knew stuff, and maybe if we could have gotten her to _ talk _ ?” At this, she pulled a face, nose scrunching in disgust, “Rather than _ rant _ about how we would all be okay if we just sacrifice ourselves to her cause, we could have been on to something.” Miyako rubbed the bridge of her nose as she took a moment to gather her thoughts, “I mean, she spent twenty years in the Astral Plane, surely she knew something we didn’t? And I'm not saying we have to… agree or even believe what she might tell us. A good police officer explores all their options, not just the ones that are comfortable. In this case, we got Yoseph's. Now, I want to hear more about Jena's." 

Hal frowned and rubbed the back of his head sighing. "I suppose that is true. We didn’t mean to hurt people, but we did. I imagine if I asked Brenda she might have a better idea at what Jena was trying to do, plus figuring out Blue Evolve.” He mused quietly. “But, I'm still not sure why you came to me for all of this. You know I’m not good with people, right, and I really don’t know much_ about any of this._ All I can do is research and speculate. Sure, I could get the proof you want, but that's about _ it _ Miyako." The drone moved closer to it as he waved at the box on the table. “I know the Seekers are a thing, but I don’t know how you someone gets into contact with them for one.” Hal shrugged. “Are you sure I’m the best person to ask to help you with all of this?”  
  
"I know you said you don't trust someone else to do it but you _ also _ said you've only ever been able to take things you had with on your person with you and even then the _ Legatus _ doesn't show up until you received it in the timeline.” Hal paused here before carefully considering his next words. “...So, how are you planning on getting me back there? You must have _ some _sort of plan?" 

Miyako huffed and looked a little uncomfortable before glancing over the rim of her glasses at him, "Well…" she said dragging out the end of the word. "It's like you said anything on my person. So, I was thinking what if I grabbed you plus your drone and activated the pc file select?” As Hal just stared, Miyako’s fidgeting in her seat got worse before quickly adding, “It's not the perfect solution, so I'm open to suggestions." Both of them did their best to ignore the strange sound that must be a Legion’s laughter.

  


"Er-I-that is to say...you want to try just hauling me _ bodily _ ?" He squeaked as the drone dropped in the air before catching himself, taking a step back, raising his hands as if he could stop her.

Her eyes brightened a little as her mouth pulling into a delighted smirk, "More or less?” Miyako laughed a little, “I always wake up on the motorcycle on the highway to Zone 36. _ So,_ I thought it might pull you along!” she pauses eyes still sparkling in delight, before continuing, “I mean it takes me from the police station to the highway so maybe it’ll take you to wherever you should be? _ Honestly,_ I have no idea how any of this works, which is another reason I picked you.” The brunette shrugged before patting Chou on the head as it seemed to have finally calmed down from the laughing fit. “You know all the technical stuff about the Legions and explored some the astral realm with your drone. Or y’ know could use your _ leet hacker _skills to find stuff out?"

The hologram flickered almost violently as Hal spluttered. "That is nothing like what you're trying to do! Knowing about the Legion’s technical specs is not the same as being able to calculate_ quantum mechanics! _ ” The man groaned before adding, “Not to mention there are too many variables. _ Honestly _." 

Suddenly a deep sigh came over the speakers. "_ Are_... you sure you can't just try to live with the world the way it is now Miyako? It's only been a few months since everything’s settled back down. Are you sure you want to change the results you already have? Can you be sure that things won’t_ end up worse than they are? _” Hal’s voice going soft, as he gently reminded her, “Akira will get better given time, Kyle and the hermits are doing okay now really. Numbers are low but we've found a few more people to join." 

The drone shuddered a little as it sunk in the air before moving closer to her a bit wary of the Axe Legions sword, "And some people. You just have to let them go. How would your Dad feel about all that happened to you two that he wouldn't_ and couldn't have stopped?_ How betrayed he might have been at you going into Zone 09? After he more than likely had to fight just to get you two out of there and adopt you in the first place." 

As he continued to speak Miyako went from holding Chou’s hand tightly to hugging onto the Legion rather suddenly. She wished to hug a Legion was like hugging a person, but then nothing could replace her Dad’s almost back-breaking hugs. Taichou did seem willing to try, so that was a small comfort at least. It hurt. Hal was bringing up valid points even if they felt like gut punches. She knew she didn’t speak her mind much but did people think that meant she wasn’t thinking for some reason?  
  


"_ I know. _ I know, I can mess it all up! Just make it worse! Or that the more we change things the less we can predict, but _ I can't sleep,_ Hal. Olive assigned me so many cases, that I ended up finishing in _ half _the time allotted since I was working on them when I couldn't sleep.” And hadn’t that been a fun conversation. 

“The cases are all_ gone, _ and thanks to nightmares pushing me toward insomnia, the backlog isn’t given a chance to pile up. Plus, the rest of Neuron have legions now. So I’m not the only one anymore.” I’m not needed anymore. Was a quiet thought that she quickly dismissed.

“But I can't relax, I can't stop thinking about how to make it better. What I should have done, and it's been driving me **mad**. I guess I could try to talk to someone? Just telling you was hard enough." she mumbled finally letting go of the Legion, Miyako couldn’t keep using them as a comfort object. A chimera wasn’t a teddy bear.

"Okay,” he said before repeating it softly to try and cut off the flood of her nervous words. “_Okay._ Let me take the time to read over all of this. And think about it. I'm not saying yes or no. But I'll...” the man hesitated a little before he continued, “Look into it. And get back in contact with you once I've decided okay?" 

Miyako nodded and carefully got up, the Axe helping keep her steady as the flood of relief seemed to hit her like a freight train. She Let Chou go after giving its hand one more squeeze and dismissing it. Then going over to Hal she pets the top of the drone gently, before tracing one of her fingers across the stickers that covered it. "_ Thank you,_ Hal. It means a lot to me. Take as much time as you need and you know how to get in contact if you have questions." Leaning over she did, however, flick the antenna on Hal’s drone before rolling her eyes at him.

  
As she turned toward the exit, she did feel lighter, _but not_ in the way she’d hoped. Still, a step forward was a step forward. Only time would tell if it was the right direction.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Sorry about being a bit late on posting the chapter! Still, I hope everyone enjoys it! Are there any parts that are confusing? I know I've read over it more than a few times so I might fill in any gaps because I know what's going to happen, so please mention if there's anything super glaring? I promise I don't bite!
> 
> The next chapter might be a little late as I have a friend flying down to visit so not sure if I'll get the next chapter up Wednesday or a bit later. If nothing else I'll get it up Sat/Sun! 
> 
> Have a safe and spooky Halloween/ Samhain!


	4. [File 16]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shift - move or cause to move from one place to another, especially over a small distance. Change the position of one's body, especially because one is nervous or uncomfortable. Change in emphasis, direction, or focus.

The room was silent after she left the only sounds coming from the drone’s lightly whirring motors, as he hovered over the box, giving it a closer look now that Miyako’s Legion wasn’t looking at him like it wanted to personally murder him violently for daring breathe around her. When the other occupant who’d been hanging out in the rafters spoke up breaking the tense silence.

“Soooo, that’s what’s been eating at Little Miss Badass, who woulda figured she wouldn’t be quite all there. I’d keep quiet too if I had more sense.” there was the slightest hint of a pause. “_Nah_, where's the fun in that?” commented a sarcastic voice from the shadows before Kyle hopped down and continued talking, “That was super freaky with her Lil’ murder hoover. I didn’t think chimeras liked hugs, much less knew what one was.” Settling on the sofa he sighed, “It wasn’t normal either, _not _that I’m one to talk about normal, but you saw how it spotted me, then she looked.” Kyle tilted his head toward Hal, “You regretting listenin’ to Pinky yet?”  
  
Hal seemed to droop at the comment, “I wasn’t even planning on meeting with her, to be honest. Nothing against Miyako, but I wanted to try and focus on getting things settled here, the rest of the Ark has Neuron. Zone 09 just has the Hermits.” he glanced at Kyle who had flopped over on the sofa instead.  
  
“Olive sounded _so _worried when she got in contact, plus the fact Miyako seemed only to be willing _to talk to _**_me _**about whatever was bothering her.” He looked back at the box while Kyle glanced over as well. “Of all the things I thought it could be, this was not it.”  
  
“I have...no idea what I’m going to tell Olive honestly. This is way beyond anything we might have thought was an issue. I mean, time travel…? Plus the thing with the Legion, does Olive even know about that? She said the only time Miyako managed to sleep was around people, or with her Legions nearby, I do wonder at that, what did I do to deserve this?” Hal gives an annoyed sigh, the sound scratchy over the speakers “Time to see what she wrote and figure out what I’m going to tell the others. This is such a mess.”  
  
“And guess what? You’re stuck right in the middle of it, fun innit?”  
  
“Oh, don’t remind me! If I wasn’t worried about _her_, I could have just been dealing with _your _messes. _You _at least I can keep an eye on!”  


* * *

  
“So, well I spoke with her, ah went through what she brought me, well there’s good and bad news?” Was then opening statement Hal ended up going with once he contacted Olive and the others. He’d been trying for a week to sort this all out and how exactly to tell the others, mostly how to not hurt her brother. Hal hadn’t realized how bad things had gotten after his drone was taken out. 

“That’s...really not a good way to start things out, Hal,” Akira said with a frown. He still wasn’t sure what he thought of the man, other than the fact it hurt that his sister seems to trust him more than her own brother. Still even if would have preferred Miyako to talk to him, this would work. “What is the good news?” Something cheerful before the doom and gloom might help clear the tense atmosphere a little.  
  
“While I would like to focus on the positives, we should hear the bad news first, we need to find out what the issues are before we can work toward fixing them. Jin said, pushing up his glasses up with a sigh, “We owe it to Miyako to not sugar coat the fact she’s clearly been having a hard time.” Never mind the whole thing with the Legions he’d seen a few weeks back, he had _wanted _to talk to Olive about it, but he also wanted to try and talk to Miyako on his own first. She used to come to him for stuff, so what had happened to have her think he still wasn't happy to listen?  
  
“Hell, you say that like the last few months haven’t been hard on us all, losing Max, the original Legions _beside _hers, and then the whole mess with the Ravens and the former Commander…” Alicia said trailing off, “Look, I get it, we don’t want to baby her, but she’s not the only one who’s been suffering. It just sucks that she didn’t think she could have come to any of us, not just fly boy over here.” Alicia rolled her eyes, “We should just be _upfront _about the issues, dancing around it isn’t helping.”  
  
“Let’s just all calm down. We can work on rebuilding trust after we figure out the issue in the first place.” Olive quickly cut off any further conversation with her no-nonsense commander voice. “We need a _clear _picture of the issues before we can do anything more. Hal, If you would?” the pink-haired woman asked him.  
  
He nodded before clearing his throat. “Okay so, she’s not insane, _probably_. Most likely. I-I think.” the drone seemed to droop a bit, “It’s really just...of all the things I thought she might talk to me about..._time travel _wasn’t one of them. But from what I can gather from her notes it does seem like that is possible for her. I’m still not quite sure how I was hoping to get with Brenda and ask her advice.” He sighed softly. “But what she wanted to talk to me about, was the possibility of going back and fixing things so...all of the destruction didn’t happen.”  
  
The room was rather quiet before everyone just kind of glanced at him with a variety of looks of disbelief across their faces. Alicia suddenly started to snicker, shoulders shaking as she lets out an incredulous, “Are you sure you haven’t gotten a few of your own wires crossed there? Time Travel? Of all the things.” she had to cover her mouth as her shoulders shook with her laughter. “Kid, I think your sister might just need a vacation. Or career change.”  
  
“I agree, while that does seem rather _far fetched.”_ Jin scowls, continuing, “Just a few years ago, chimeras were invisible monsters that we didn’t even know existed. If we’d just given up, then wouldn’t they be a fairy tale too? Plus, we all know she had it rough a few months back, I doubt it’s enough to cause a mental break. At least _not _the kind you seem to be implying Alicia.” Jin offered, glasses flashing in the light as he glared at Alicia, not nearly as amused as she was.  
  
Brenda, who had been between more than a few explosive arguments between these two hastily cleared her throat before speaking up. “Jin’s right.” Once she’d gotten their attention, she continued, “It’s not nearly as impossible as you might think. It’s _complicated_, yes, but not impossible. At least not for Miyako and Akira. I wasn’t able to keep much from Dr. Calvert, but he never seemed to think it was worth looking into.” she trailed off before tapping at her tablet.  
  
“From what Miyako’s records show, _before _the fall she took in the fight with Jena Anderson she hadn’t broken any bones. Taking that into account, the records I took from Hal’s base after she was recovered told me a different story.” the blue-haired woman did wince a little. “She wasn’t hurt from the fall as much as she could have been, thanks to having passed out and later, well.”  
  
Brenda paused before continuing, “Her fusion with the Legion repaired a broken shoulder and neck, which I have from the scans I took then. Thanks to Akira, I was able to get her into medical a few days ago and I noticed she had broken her elbow at some point. I know _I_ never treated her for such a thing, nor had anyone else on the Ark.” Brenda taps on her tablet, bringing up the necessary files that she transferred to the display screen, “I thought it might have been healed by fusion with her Legion like the other bones, but I checked her equipment and it’s only registered her sync level spiking when she fuses two times. The original fusion after her fall and the other time was when she fought Akira.”

“So, they are real,” Akira said more to his lap but the others still heard as the room had gone quiet while Brenda spoke. “It was stupid, there wasn’t a reason to worry someone else over it!” he said slumping into the chair a little not comfortable with all the attention. “It wasn’t like I could say. ‘_Oh, by the way, I had a dream last night where I saw my sister trying to balance an Avalanche special while doing a one-handed handstand, and oh, her Legion was taking a picture of it all!_” He snapped, face bright red in embarrassment.   
  
The youngest male shook his head before sighing after giving himself a moment to calm down cheeks still pink, “A-Anyway, I couldn’t have told you that. It felt just like normal dreams for the most part. I’d go to sleep and it just felt like, I would be reliving some days in really _vivid _detail. It...was really strange, and with all the _other _problems, it wasn’t hurting anything so I just kept quiet.”  
  
“Akira-”  
  
Alica and Jin both started but seemed to be at a loss for what to say, words overlapping, and then fading awkwardly.  
  
“L-Look no it’s not… a big deal and we’ve been ignoring Hal and I want to get this done and over with if it’s all the same to you.” He said pointedly, turning back to where the drone floated.  
  
“E-Er right well! So, you now know what I know, and I can get you the papers if you like, or I already scanned them and can send you that. I tried to summarize, but it wasn’t really working...”  
  
“That would be good, Thank you, Hal,” Olive said finally. “Jin, Alicia I want you two to look the files over, digital-first, and if need be Hal can send the physical notebooks over. Akira, try to talk to Miyako if nothing else ask her about the dream, and Hal let me know if she gets back into contact with you. Let’s regroup and go over the finer details in a few days.” She sighed, “I was hoping we would get _further _than this, but this is beyond what I was expecting. I mean I’m sure there are still other things at work here but for now, I want to take the time to figure out what we’re working with. We need to try our best and for that, we’ll need _more _time, unfortunately.”  
  
“Geeze, you two don’t do anything by halves do you do you kiddo?” Alicia said, not exactly convinced the merit of all this worry, but Akira was worried so she’d at least keep an eye on him.  
  
“All we can do is get a better read on the issue at hand and then plan to do better in the future. Regret won’t get us anywhere.” Jin sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose and trying to fight the slowly forming headache. Howards were always zero to Mach 4, weren’t they?  
  
“Sorry, I wasn’t able to get more Olive. I know you had been hoping for better results.” Hal mumbled, looking contrite.  
  
“Don’t worry about it Hal, at least now we have a better idea of what we’re dealing with. Which we owe to you.” The pink-haired woman said, hoping it would encourage Hal a little. For all she gave him a hard time, he really did try his best.  
  
“Specifics can come later, for now, we need the bigger picture.” Brenda reminded them all. “Let me know if you two need any help.” She said, looking toward Jin and Alicia. “It’s not usually too busy in the infirmary, so I can read something if you need another set of eyes. Also, Hal, you mentioned wanting to speak with me about some other things?”  
  
  
Akira left the room as they all kept talking. It felt like they forgot he wasn’t just Miyako’s kid brother. Both of them had graduated at the top of their class at the academy. He wasn’t useless. _Really_. Just because he had some supposedly missing memories. Well, not so missing now that he knew the dreams were real. Akira tried not to feel sick at the thought. Best to put that away for now.  
  
_Don’t be stupid._ Akira suddenly heard though his bond with his Arrow Legion ‘Kagami you moron’ as it commented dryly.

“What do you mean?” He asked the crabby Legion, they still worked well together, even with his missing memories, but it would just get catty like this sometimes.

_ You wanted to know what happened, don’t lie. Now you__ know. But they don’t_**_ know that._** It reminded him firmly. _ How would you feel about having to tell people you remember how you died? _

“Oh.” Akira frowns a little, fiddles with the straps on his uniform.

Kagami snorts. _ Exactly. Now, you should go to the cat shelter, I bet that’s where she is.  _  
  
Akira nodded, “It’s a good time of day for it since Olive kicked her out earlier today.” He could head to the Vendor-3 after taking his Legatus to his locker, Kagami was the one who spoke the most, but the others liked to be the peanut gallery and comment.

_ You say that like we don’t have valuable comments to add, how heartbreaking. I fear I shall die from the disappointment. _ Akira had to bite back the instinctual ‘ _ Then Perish’ that wanted to leave his lips._ But it was too late and his Sword Legion, ‘No I won’t call you Braincell’, was already cackling at him in the back of his head.  
  
He shouldn’t be so nervous about this. It wasn’t like they’re not close, they are.

Akira should have known better than to think that. He hadn’t wanted things to change, but Dad had made him promise. Akira wishes he hadn’t kept that promise, even if their dad had good reasons at the time.  


* * *

  
  
It was when I was finally going to find out where Dad went some days after work. Koko just told me it was prolly just him having to catch up doing adult stuff, maybe he was trying to find them a Mom? But Dad was allowed to have his adult time like they had their own fun time before they had to go to bed. She said they shouldn’t pry, but I wanted to know! I knew Dad was up to something he always seemed concerned about something. And I wanted to help fix it. So I finally ended up following him. Koko just stayed home because she was almost done with the first game Jin had bought her, Something to do with witches and guns? She seemed to be enjoying it so I left her to it.  
  
Still Of all the things, I thought I would catch Dad doing, keeping cats wasn’t one of them.  
  
“Akira! Why, what are you doing here? It’s not safe.” Dad said lips turned down into a deep frown once he caught me.  
  
“I just followed you! You take too long to come home some days, Koko thinks you’re just doing paperwork, but _I _knew better!” I grinning brightly, feeling very accomplished, “And I was right! I can’t wait to tell Koko!”  
  
“W-wait Akira, kiddo, you can’t! You shouldn’t even be here!” His dad said eye slightly wide in panic, “It’s not safe.”  
  
I just raised an eyebrow in disbelief, “Ooh yes, those cats look _very _dangerous. Much meowing, tummy rub demands, absolutely _terrifying_.”  
  
“Akira.” Dad snapped at me before pinching the bridge of his nose.”You know how you have drills right? For going to the shelters when you hear the sirens?”

“Duh, we practice every month at school, it’s the one time Koko and I make sure not to pretend to be each other.” It was annoying but the chewing out we’d gotten the one time we had swapped had resulted in Dad grounding us for a week. “What’s the drills have to do with cats?”  
  
“Right, you’re not in high school yet.” He mumbled before taking a deep breath and putting his hands on my shoulder, “They don’t tell you when you’re younger because it just scares kids, but animals can carry red matter, which is what causes people to get sick.”  
  
I nodded blankly, of course, that’s why we would read stories about schools having class pets, but we couldn’t have them. “Yeah? I know you can’t get better from it but you wouldn’t let something like that happen to Koko and me! It’s why you’re an officer still!”  
  
"Akira, we can’t really tell which cats might make people sick. It’s hard enough to tell human’s levels of corruption, and so no one knows which ones are safe. I’m protected against getting sick, as part of my job is dealing with this stuff, but you and Miyako? They don’t make the drug that keeps you people from getting sick anymore. So, you two could get hurt if you come here. And I couldn’t _ stand _the thought of being why you got sick.” 

“I-I...guess that makes sense.” I frowned, “But I want to help! I-I can be careful!” 

“That’s not the point Akira.”  
  
“You, you can’t keep me from telling Koko! I will! And then we can come here anyway.” I said puffing my cheeks out, sulking. Koko likes cats too and I don’t want to keep something from her.  
  
“It’s also not exactly legal…?” Dad finally added, “While there aren’t laws against keeping pets, it’s restricted and field operatives like me, are really not supposed to even attempt to keep pets because we come into contact with red matter so much that it can linger, you and Miyako get check-ups every few months and they check your levels then, but..” he trailed off with a sigh, “Just please. You can come and help out, but that means more doctor visits.”

  
I didn’t really like going to the doctor, but I wasn't as bad as Koko about it, who despised going. Still, getting to see cats would be worth it. “Okay. I won’t… I won’t tell Koko, but will you tell me their names?” I asked looking back over at the cats, excited to get to play with them. It wasn’t bad if Dad told me I couldn’t tell her right?  
  
I shouldn’t feel guilty about keeping something from my sister, besides it was for a good reason. Still, we started to drift after that. I didn’t want to lie, so I shoved her away. I told her I didn’t want to play pretend anymore, It hurt, but it was my fault.  
  
I wish I could go back and fix it, but despite what Miyako seems to think, not _everything_ can be fixed by making sure it never happens.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More legion talking! Yayyyyy I've only named two of Akira's legions atm but 
> 
> Braincell -< Sword Legion  
Kagami -> Arrow Legion 
> 
> Sorry, it was a bit longer getting this one out, but here it is! And again if anyone has questions or anything Be sure to comment!
> 
> The next chapter should be out Wednesday like normal!


	5. [File 17]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Confront - meet (someone) face to face with hostile or argumentative intent. Face up to and deal with (a problem or difficult situation). Compel (someone) to face or consider something, especially by way of accusation.

For all the dangers of animals redshifting into chimeras, she wished more people could legally keep them still. Petting cats? Very calming. Ten out of ten, she would always recommend. Miyako hummed as she stroked the cat curled in her lap while looking at the other felines idling around. 

A pang strikes her heart at that moment, and she looks down. Don’t think about the implications of the fact that Dad never brought her here, that Akira knew about it and didn’t tell her, or the fact he was specifically told _not _to tell her. Nope, everything was okay. The cat in her lap, Kinder, murred at her softly as she’d stopped petting them. “Ah, just bad thoughts no need to worry. My apologies, oh fluffy one, didn't mean to stop.” She mumbled before going back to petting the cat.  
  
As settled as she was on the sofa, it was almost as nice as her own, Miyako slowly drifted off to a well-needed nap. The cats didn’t work as well helping her sleep like being around people, but her Legatus was at HQ and she wasn’t feeling up to being around people at _all_. So the cats worked in a pinch. Alas, even as safe as she felt that wasn’t going to stop the nightmares.  
  
  
  
‘_You’ve got to end this.._**_please_**_!’ ‘...is cause _**_pain_**_...nothing more. We have that in common.’ ‘...Jena died saving Akira from _**_whatever you'd become_**_.’ ‘_**_I know you can hear me_**_! Come on, _**_control yourself_**_!’ ‘I tried to warn you...e-even_**_ if you do survive_**_…’ ‘I'm _**_sorry _**_sister.’ ‘the true form of _**_your Legion's power_**_. ...call yourself "_**_human"_**_?’ ‘You recognize me, _**_I know it_**_!’ ‘...now _**_you understand._**’  
  
  
  
“Hey...hey! Wake up! It’s just a dream, I know you can hear me! Come on, wake up…” Akira carefully went over to her, after setting his bag down on a desk, not wanting to startle her too much. But with the way she was tossing and turning, and that was a rather vicious sounding snarl? What on earth was she dreaming about? Whatever it was it couldn’t be pleasant.  
  
Still, he didn’t want to leave her trapped in what was clearly a bad dream. So reaching over he touched her shoulder, intent on gently trying to shake her awake, only to be tackled to the floor by the formerly sleeping sibling whose eyes had gone from her normal amber to a dark and vicious violet as she hissed. Akira shivered and forced himself to hold still as he was looking up at her, what had they been taught about talking people down…?  
  
“Miyako, It’s Akira, everything is okay. You just had a bad dream. It’s okay, everything is fine. Just listen to my voice?” he said calmly closing his eyes. The purple was deeply unsettling to see, the only other time he’d seen that shade was after the Jena fight, “I just came to visit, I brought some peach soup like you got me? You’re scaring the cats.” You’re scaring me was what he meant. “Miyako, do you need me to call someone? Do you want to talk to Alicia? Jin? Hal..?”  
  
Her eyes widened at Jin’s name, even causing her to glance around as if expecting him to be there. Once it was apparent he wasn’t _actually _there, Miyako’s face fell a little before she went back to observing him, almost dog-like, tilting her head to the side. Seeing her face up close like this just reminded him that without the glasses, or the lipstick she wore some days, they looked so much _alike_.  
  
Why had he let it go so wrong? They’d had so much fun as kids getting their dad to guess which twin was which. They’d both called themselves ‘Akira’ for the first six years of school. It had driven their teachers _mad_. Why had he decided that cats were more important than his sister? Worse was, once they’d started to branch out, he’d liked the attention he’d gotten for just being _Akira_, not one-half of the Howard Twins. Everyone grows apart, but that didn’t mean he should have let it go to his head.  
  
His thoughts were interrupted as Akira was brought back to the present by his sister carefully petting at his hair, seemingly trying to neaten it up before she ruffled it, grinning a bit like their dad used to. “Miyako? What’s going on?” She just hummed and ignored the question as she looked him over before shifting off him and kneeling to the side of him as if to tell him to get up, nevermind she’d knocked him to the floor to start with.

  
Some sort of time limit seemed to be hit as she groaned softly, a hand going to her head as the purple vanished from her eyes. Akira sat up on his elbows and watched her carefully. That color had definitely been the same purple as from the highway, he was sure. But her cradle had been at work? Kamagi had mentioned going to talk to Miyako’s Legions.  
  
“Mhn… My _head…_” Miyako mumbled, rubbing her eyes as she came back to her senses, “Wasn’t I on the sofa…? How’d I get over…” suddenly spotting Akira on the floor next to her still, she froze, “A-Akira what are you...doing...here.” she asked getting up while keeping her eyes on him as if he’d been the one to attack her not the other way around, “I-I can leave if you wanted to spend some time here.” His sister offered him quickly.  
  
Blinking Akira shook his head before sighing raising an eyebrow at her confused, “No, I was actually looking for you. Why would you think you can’t here at the same time as me? I don’t mind, really you’re welcome here too.” Akira said with a slight frown.  
  
Miyako bristled a little at the question, his tone hitting a sore spot. “I mean you never even told me this place existed. For one.” She grumbled before looking at the bag he’d brought with him, raising an eyebrow at it.  
  
“I _wanted _too! I was so excited that I was _right _and Dad wasn’t staying late ‘cause he was doing something boring like paperwork!” Akira said proudly as only a sibling who won an argument could be. He even had his chest puffed out in pride.  
  
“Or finding us a Mom?” Miyako asked dryly, deeply unimpressed by his antics as she stood before stretching a little, showing just how much his posturing bores her.  
  
“Or finding us a mom, I wonder what Alicia must have thought of that because Dad had to have told her.” He suddenly mused hand on his chin in thought, before shaking his head and frowning, “Wait… was that why you didn’t tell me about going into Zone 09? As some sort of one-upping thing?” Akira’s tone had shifted from prideful to accusing.  
  
“Excuse me?” the elder snapped, glaring at him, settling her hands on her hips.  
  
“You went into Zone 09 And never even mentioned your plans to me!” He huffed back, mirroring her pose.  
  
“You were in the hospital _moron_! You know, after your dumb ass jumped in front of me?” She scowled at him, unimpressed with the logic.  
  
“Well, clearly you need _someone _to be your impulse control! _Honestly_, what were you thinking?” Akira snapped back, before moving over to her and poking her in the chest, “Miss-lets-head-into-Zone-09, gosh what could go _wrong_?” He pulled away and started to pace as he kept on talking. “It’s not like you might have scared me, because I got sent to _arrest _you after waking up! And I was just doing my job! Like I was supposed to! We _needed _you a lot more than me at the time.”  
  
“Bullshit! You’re really fucking lucky I had a target to beat up instead of you!” she hissed, “Otherwise, you can bet I would have been jumping right after your sorry ass.”With a disgruntled snort, Miyako moved back over to by the sofa quickly grabbing her glasses before settling them back over her face as she rolled her eyes at him.  
  
Only to squawk indignantly as Akira came over and plucked them right back off her face. “Nuh-uh, you don’t get to hide from me sister dearest,” he said before taking them and quickly stuffing them in a drawer and locking it and then sticking the key in his front pocket. “No glasses for you~! You don’t even need them!”  
  
“If you _honestly _think that’s going to stop me, you’d be wrong.” She mocked, tackling him.  
  
Akira would never admit it but he might have shrieked. Just a little.  
  
After Miyako got the key back she just stuffed it down the front of _her _shirt before sticking her tongue out at him. Both of them in a pile on the floor, fighting to catch their breath a little. “That was pretty fun, but did you need something? You brought a bribe with you, so you’re not just here to feed the cats.” She offered resting her head on his shoulder, while he leaned back on the sofa, as both of them had scooted over to the sofa but hadn’t bothered to get off the floor.  
  
“I can’t just want to see you?” he asked, hating how his voice wavered a bit eyes drifting up to the ceiling.  
  
“I mean you _could_,” she mumbled, “But we work in the same department silly. And get partnered together a lot.” Miyako said as she tried to read his expression. “But you brought me peach soup and my favorite snack cakes. I know when someone’s trying to butter me up.” she huffed poking his side.  
  
“You’ve been worrying me!” Akira said with a whine.  
  
“No shit? Really? I never would have guessed, very shocked.” Miyako rolled her eyes again, her tone deadpan. “You follow me around HQ and made me go see Brenda, I get it you’re worried. But why now Kiki?”  
  
“You haven’t been sleeping well, Marie even mentioned to Olive she’s found you sleeping in the locker room more than once. And when I first got here you were having a nightmare! You did some sort of weird thing too! The last time I saw that shade of purple was when you slam-dunked me on the highway.” Akira mumbled trying for humor but his face going pale at the memory.  
  
“I...never did apologize for that did I?” She asked him faintly. “I don’t _really _remember much, but I know I didn’t want to hurt you, and I am sorry I did.”  
  
“W-Well I prefer you being alive! Even if it was not very fun.” the younger protested.  
  
“Mhn, I guess I did technically get my revenge, after all, you got hurt too.” She offered him, as she grabbed his hand gently.  
  
“I don’t really remember it, but if you think so?” He asked squeezing back.  
  
“Mhn hmm, I was just glad I hadn’t lost you. Did I ever tell you what Dad told me? Before he made me leave the Plane?” She asked suddenly.  
  
Akira shook his head at the seemingly random topic change, “No? Why?”  
  
“You can save the world, I know you can, but promise me you’ll keep your brother safe too. I need you to look out for him.” She said softly adopting an almost gruff tone, clearly trying to imitate their Dad. “I don’t think I quite managed that did I?”  
  
“Koko...You're not responsible for all the bad things that happen to me. You can’t control the world.” He chastised her gently.  
  
“S-Still you thought I didn’t want to go save him!” Biting her lip she continued, “Just because I’m not as vocal about stuff doesn’t mean I don’t care. I still care! One of us has to be the strong one. I just want you to be happy Kiki. But I also have to make sure you’re _safe_.”  
  
He rolled his eyes before reaching over to the bag and shoved the peach soup into her free hand. “Koko, I can take care of myself, _I swear_.”  
  
She huffed and shoved at him with her shoulder before opening the drink, “Big sister prerogative, sorry.” Miyako mumbled before taking a quick drink. “You should know that I’ve been doing it forever.” Akira sits up, frowning, and she knows he won’t let it go without a fight. Miyako sighs, and begins to talk. “Don’t you remember the fight?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry a little later on this one too, but I hope everyone liked Miyako ad Akira's banter? I worked really hard to make it seem fairly natural! Any thoughts or suggestions?

**Author's Note:**

> Hello and welcome to my first attempt at fic since highschool, Yay! I have a good deal written and hopefully will be able to post every Wednesday till I find the end of the story. 
> 
> But I've always been a fan of time travel fic its, but none of them quite had what I was looking for. And after I read the lovely Zell's [File] I inspired me to write this, You should really give Zell's work a shot if you've not read it already. ALSO TY ZELL FOR BABYING ME AND MAKING SURE I ADD MY COMMAs uR A BLESSING
> 
> Same with The Immortal Life of Akira Howard, it was a very good retroactive inspiration after I had a lot of this written.


End file.
